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Tesla Model 3 Reliability Likely to Be Average, Says Consumer Reports

Tesla's poor Consumer Reports ratings appear to continue as the Californian carmakers is entering the mass-market sector for the first time with its Model 3 electric sedan.
Tesla Model 3 1 photo
Photo: Tesla Inc.
Like the Model X before it, the new car is having severe initial production problems that have cut delivery numbers drastically (from the projected 1,500 units to just 220 until the end of the third quarter). While this shouldn't have any implication on the vehicle's reliability, it does suggest a recurring pattern for Tesla's every new model, and that doesn't bode well for the 3.

During the first year of its life, the Model X was a reliability disaster. It had so many problems that Tesla should actually be grateful to its underperforming suppliers for not limiting the number of electric SUVs it put on the road during that time.

The Falcon Wing doors, in particular, proved to be troublesome, but the list of things that went wrong with the X was much more comprehensive. Only last week, the manufacturer decided to recall about 11,000 Xs for a potential failure of the rear seat restraint, so while a lot of the ailments had been fixed, new ones are still surfacing.

Based on that and on the amount of technology it shares with the larger Model S sedan, Consumer Reports has now made a prediction for the Model 3's reliability. The trusted source of customer recommendations attributed the same "average" rating that Tesla products have been getting lately.

Obviously, the company wasn't happy about it. “Consumer Reports has not yet driven a Model 3, let alone do they know anything substantial about how the Model 3 was designed and engineered,” it said in an email to Bloomberg. “Time and time again, our own data shows that Consumer Reports’ automotive reporting is consistently inaccurate and misleading to consumers.”

But it's not all bad news. For the first time in the company's short history, the Model S sedan has been promoted to "above average" thus becoming the company's first product to get over the "average" standard. That still keeps Tesla in the lower third of the surveyed brands, but it's a definite improvement.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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